BHUBANESWAR : TEMPLES GRAND AND OLD

“A city of temples” -- this tagline is very apt for Bhubaneswar.  A string of centuries-old temples attracts a large number of visitors daily from all over India and abroad.  In fact, the city has very many other shrines as well.  The tagline has stuck though the capital city of Odisha has made rapid strides towards becoming modern.  The city is an essential part of the state’s Golden Triangle -- Puri, Konark and Bhubaneswar.

RARE, STRANGE AND UNIQUE

(By Subbaram Danda)

Lingaraj temple

Among all abodes of Hindu worship in Bhubaneswar, Lingaraj temple stands out as the most unique, largest and most visited.  Built in the eleventh century, the sprawling temple is dedicated to Harihara, a fusion of Vishnu and Shiva.  This mode of veneration is a rarity.  There are only about half a dozen similar temples in India and a few overseas.  Paintings and sculptures, of course, liberally portray this form of divinity. The concept of Harihara is a profound philosophical expression that unifies two apparently different aspects of the same Supreme Being.     

Built by King Jajati Kesari, it was originally designed as a Shiva temple as the term Lingaraj connotes.  The Shiva linga in the sanctum is said to be Swayambhu (self-originated).  But in course of time with Vaishnavism becoming prominent in the region, the linga itself came to be treated as Harihara and worshipped accordingly.   The temple also underwent some changes.  At the main entrance, on either side of the door, one can see even today a Trishul (trident) and a Chakra (wheel) representing the two deities.

Around the main temple, there are numerous smaller shrines for other deities within the complex fortified by a high wall.  The main Vimana (tower over the sanctum) rises to a height of 180 feet and exhibits sculptures of divine beings, royalty, dancers, musicians, animals and hunters. 

The tower of the Lingaraj temple

An interior view

A long shot of the Lingaraj temple

Rajarani temple

Mystery surrounds the Rajarani temple.  It stands without any presiding deity inside!  It has always been so, according to our guide.   Why?  He has no credible explanation.  Interestingly, all other essential architectural segments of the temple are intact -- the tower, the audience hall and the porches.  

Another intriguing feature is that the name of the temple has nothing to do with any king or queen but refers to a type of sandstone locally available called Rajarani.  The temple was built with such stones. 

Who constructed it?  It is also an enigma.  An inference attributes it to Somavamshi kings, who had migrated from Central India to Orissa.  Similarly, its time of construction is a conjecture – 11^th century.

All said and done, it is a great temple to visit, especially because its sculptures come out alive, brilliantly and gorgeously.

A well-laid-out pathway with neat lawns and hedge plants lead visitors to the temple far interior.  Cool shadow trees encircle the small temple.  The frontage is not very impressive.  But going around it, one is struck by the beauty and exuberance of its architectural splendour.  Its main tower rises to a height of 60 feet.

Figures of slender women fondling a child, looking into a mirror, removing an anklet, caressing a bird, playing an instrument or holding a tree branch are all there in an exceptionally well-preserved form.  Sculptures of damsels in amorous dalliance do not fail to shock the visitors.

As there is no worship, only tourists and heritage lovers visit the temple.

The imposing tower of the Rajarani temple

The well-preserved sculptures of the Rajarani temple

The overall view of the Rajarani temple

Mukteswar temple

One of the most compact places of worship in Bhubaneswar, Mukteswar temple is renowned for its architectural adornments.  Its arched gateway is a masterpiece of extra-ordinary craftsmanship in stone. No visitor misses the languorously reclining damsels etched on it and bands of other delicate embellishments.   In another respect also it is significant.   The gateway is not part of any other temple in the region.  This aspect imparts uniqueness to the temple.

The ceiling of the porch displays an eight petal lotus in a brilliant formation.  The tower and walls of the temple exhibit sculptures drawn from Hindu scriptures and tales of Panchatantra. Of course, beasts and beauties have their due place.  A specialty is portrayal of ascetics in different poses of meditation.  Through this depiction Mukteswar temple seeks to convey that meditation is essential to attain mukti (deliverance from earthly bonds).

The Shiva temple dates back to the 10^th century and it is postulated that Somavamshi king Yayati built it.  It is considered a monument of importance in the study of development of Hindu temples in Odisha.

The ornate arched gateway of the Mukteswar temple

The overall view of the temple

A neat pathway leading to the Mukteswar temple

These are the three most prominent temples that a tourist to Bhubaneswar should visit for their variegated fare.  They are sure to leave a lasting impression on anyone.  There are still a few others worth a visit.  We  could not, however, go there for want of time.

End of the series on Odisha.

April 18, 2017

DHAULI GIRI: Witness to a great transformation

BRUTAL WAR AND ENDURING PEACE
(By Subbaram Danda)

It was the fiercest war ever fought in the early history of India and also one that turned a victorious king into an apostle of peace – the Kalinga war of 261 BC. 

It was fought between Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty and the ruler of Kalinga, a small prosperous independent country, on the banks of River Daya at Dhauli in the present-day state of Odisha.  It was so brutal that more than 150,000 warriors and civilians perished in it and the “river flowed red.”   

Though Ashoka conquered Kalinga, the lives lost and the havoc it caused made him repentant. It brought about a profound transformation in his attitude towards humanity.  The preachings of a Buddhist monk on futility of war also impacted him.   Ashoka retained Kalinga under his fold but put a stop to any further military expansionism.

Finally, the emperor embraced Buddhism, abjuring violence of any kind.  The scene of all this action, Dhauli, lies at about eight kilometres from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha. 

Overlooking the Daya river, there is a hillock called Dhauli Giri.   It is on this hillock that in 1972 a Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Peace Pagoda, came up through Indo-Japanese collaboration.   It is now a major tourist attraction.

A massive dome, the stupa stands with five chatris (umbrellas) on its top, which represent the five moral precepts of Buddhism.  The tenets are:  no harm to living beings, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying and no liquor consumption.  The stupa can be reached by climbing a long but easy flight of steps.  The gleaming white structure has a circular walkway around it for visitors to move and see different sculptures of Buddha in niches and on wall panels.  Statues of lions in bright yellow on the peripheral wall of the walkway give the impression that they are standing guard of the stupa.

Dhauli also houses edicts of Ashoka inscribed on a massive rock that can be seen on the side of the road leading to the stupa on the hillock.

We visited Dhauli Giri on our way to Bhubaneswar.  Here are some photos:

  

In front of the Vishwa Shanti Stupa

The main Buddha statue in the stupa

Buddha in a reclining position

One of the lion statues on the outer wall of the walkway

The umbrellas on top of the stupa

My next presentation will be on Bhubaneswar.

April 15, 2017

KONARK REDISCOVERED

It was a revisit for me.  I had been to Konark Sun temple earlier.  However, my wife was seeing the internationally famous monument for the first time.   My immediate reaction was that its bewitching charm has not diminished in any way. 

THE MESMERISING MONUMENT

(By Subbaram Danda)

The Jagamohana (audience hall) is the principal structure
 in the Konark Sun temple complex today

The Sun temple, in its present form, stands gorgeously in the middle of a lush green garden with neatly mowed lawns and nicely trimmed flower plants.  It continues to attract people from all over the world.  

We engaged an English speaking guide to take us round and tell us about strange and mysterious aspects of the temple.  He was knowledgeable and articulate.  We were astounded when he described how the statue of the Sun originally looked in the sanctum.  We heard him with bated breath.

The highly ornate and resplendent statue was in a totally levitated state as if suspended in air well above the ground.  This was made possible by a huge powerful magnet installed on top of the 229-foot Vimana (tower over the sanctum) and smaller ones at other points.   Iron plates were also inserted between pairs of stones all around the rising tower.   This arrangement generated interacting magnetic forces and kept the idol made of iron-rich material floating.  Incredible!  Incredible!!

But, ships sailing on the sea near the coast of the temple had a tough time with their compasses, which went haywire because of the power of the huge magnet.  Angry Portuguese sailors bombarded it with canons.  The result was devastating.  The magnet and the tower came crashing down.  A colossal loss!  How wonderful it would have been, had the levitating statue existed to this day!!    

Another version says that the collapse of the tower was on account of the weight of the superstructure and inadequate foundation in the loose soil at the site.   There is also a view that it was the mindless work of anti-Hindu outfits at that time.  The event took place in 1837.

The principal structure that we see today is Jagamohana (audience hall) in front of what was once the sanctum.   Soaring to a height of 128 feet, it provides an aura of grandeur to the entire scene.  Other surviving buildings are Nata Mandira (dance hall) and Bhoga Mandapa (dining hall).
 

In front of the Nata Mandira

Our guide explained that the temple was built by King Narasimhadeva I of Eastern Ganga dynasty in 1255 in the traditional Kalinga style of architecture.  More than 1,200 artisans worked hard to create the wonder in stone in 12 years.  In 1984 it received UNESCO’s tag of “World Heritage Site.” 

The entire structure was conceived and constructed in the form of a gigantic chariot ornately crafted with twelve pairs of elaborately carved 10-feet high stone wheels together with a set of seven horses (four on the right and three on the left) pulling it.  The 12 pairs of wheels represent 12 months of the year and the seven horses stand for the seven days of the week.  There were also three images of the Sun on the outer side facing three directions. 

Each of the 12 pairs of wheels is extensively carved

 

The whole temple is oriented towards east in such a precise way that the first rays of the morning Sun would always pass through the Nata Mandira and the Jagamohana.    When the Vimana was there, the rays illuminated the sanctum.  

The temple’s architectural features are innumerable.  A pair of identical sculptures on each side of the steps of the entrance to the monument captures the attention of the visitors – a fierce lion pouncing on a mighty kneeling elephant, which tightly holds under its trunk a man lying on the ground.  What is sought to be conveyed through this display?  Elephant symbolises power and lion stands for pride.  When a man’s pride overrides his unbridled power, his fall is imminent.  The sculptor has done a marvellous job.

The symbolism of lion, elephant and man

Women practised boxing in those days!  We were somewhat surprised, when our guide talked about them, pointing to a neatly carved panel on an exterior wall of the temple.  Boxing was a popular game at that time and women in large numbers participated in it.  They also excelled in such uncommon activities as horse-riding and animal fighting.  Of course, their forte was fine arts.  Courtesans specialized in exotic forms of dance.  “This shows that women of that time played a dominant role in the society,” our guide commented.

Boxing women

A woman riding a horse 

A woman fights with an animal

Women, of course, excelled in music and dance.

It is indeed a great celebration of life that unfolds in stone everywhere in the temple complex – on the walls, niches, pillars, pedestals and plinths.  There are friezes depicting dancers and musicians, courtesans and sages, hunters and animals, celebrities and commoners, and celestial nymphs and divinities. 

Strikingly attractive damsels can be seen in a variety of postures – wringing water from wet hair, caressing a bird, arms raised over the head, playing musical instruments, fondling a child and exhibiting their body sensuously.   There is no dearth of mythological figures, including human-headed serpents and demons.  The king and facets of his daily life including royal hunts, processions, victories and religious activities are writ large everywhere. 

It is a carnival of life everywhere

More feminine figures and exotic animals

Carvings and sculptures everywhere

Unabashedly erotic sculptures, large in size and conspicuous in detail, do not fail to stun the visitors.  They are particularly prominent on the walls between the basement and the lintel. Celebrities, nobles, warriors, merchants, commoners and even sages participate in sensuous extravaganza.   It is explained that amorous adventures and frank display of the rhythm of life were never a taboo in ancient Indian literature and temple art.   Erotica has always been treated as a prominent aspect of temple decoration and Konark is no exception.

Turning to other aspects, our guide pointed out that the wheels are the most-photographed portions of the temple.   It is noteworthy that each one also serves as a sundial.  If one places a stick on the axle perpendicular to the surface of the wheel, its shadow falls at a point on the rim indicating the time of the day.   Its precision has to be appreciated.

The senseless handiwork of vandals is evident at quite a few places.  A panel on the exterior wall portraying the images of King Narasimhadeva and his wife remains mutilated.  The lower torsos of the royal couple have been done away with.  Many disfigured sculptures can be seen elsewhere too.

The disfigured statues of King Narasimhadeva and his queen

The Archaeological Survey of India, which manages the monument, has done a remarkable job in installing at different points in the complex statues and artefacts that have been salvaged from the collapsed rubble.  War steeds and enraged elephants, all life-size, stand on separate pedestals.   The tense expression on their faces, the contours of their taut muscles and the posture of their legs make a lasting impression on the visitors.

 

Statues of elephants salvaged from collapsed rubble

A war steed and a warrior with his head cut off

Another salvaged sculpture

The Konark Sun temple speaks volumes about the history, society and pastimes of the people of those times.  As Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore said, “here the language of stone surpasses the language of man.”  Nothing can be more truthful than this.  For heritage lovers it is a treasure trove. 

My next piece will be on Dhauli Giri, where Emperor Ashoka embraced Buddhism.  

April 12, 2017

PURI : ITS APPEAL IS ETERNAL

The cynosure of all eyes in Puri is indisputably the Jagannath temple. 
 Several tales associated with it are astounding.  Among
 the other attractions of the  town is its beach

  that throbs with life in the evenings, 

 particularly during week-ends.

Pictorial representation of the principal deities of the Puri
temple: Balabhadra, Subhadra and Jagannath

CUSTOMS, BELIEFS AND WONDERS

(By Subbaram Danda)

The temple of Jagannath at Puri in the state of Odisha stands distinguished by its unique traditions and incredible legends.  A 12^th century Vaishnavite abode, its principal deities are Jagannath, and his siblings Balabhadra and Subhadra.  Here Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, is worshipped as Jagannath. 

The tower of the Jagannath temple as seen from a distance

We learnt a lot about the temple in the course of our visit there, accompanied by a Panda (priest) recommended by the executives of the Sterling Resort, where we stayed.  Renovation work was going on in the sanctum and we had the ‘darshan’ of the deities from a short distance.

The temple stands on a gigantic raised platform surrounded by a wall 22 feet high with four entrances in four directions.  The main portal, called the Lion’s gate, is east-facing.  The Vimana, the tower over the sanctum, rises to a height of 215 feet.  Taller than a 21-storey modern skyscraper, the tower can be seen from any part of the city, it is said.   Inside the complex, there are a large number of small shrines for various other deities.

At the Jagannath temple.  Its surrounding wall is 22 feet high

Several features of the temple and its rituals took us by surprise.  The most outstanding of them is that the idols of the presiding deities are made of wood, not granite, marble or metal, as is the practice elsewhere.  They are replaced by new ones in a grand ceremony once in 8, 12 or 19 years, as per the temple tradition.

Many may not notice that the idols are not complete in their physical form.  According to a legend, Vishwakarma, the celestial architect and sculptor, who was making three idols in a closed room for a temple to be built by king Indradyumna, was disturbed by his queen Gundicha before they were ready.  In anger he vanished leaving the idols unfinished.  The king, however, built the temple with those incomplete idols.  He also constructed another temple granting the wish of the queen and named it after her.

That is a legend.  When construction of the present temple was taken up, the images of the deities were similarly designed.  A Gundicha temple also came up but without the idols of the presiding trinity.  It stands, three kilometers away, at the centre of a beautiful garden.  The main temple and this one stand at the two ends of what has come to be known as the Grand Avenue. 

The entrance to the Gundicha temple

At the Gundicha temple

Every year in June or July the three deities of the Jagannath temple are taken out in towering colourful wooden chariots in a grand procession, called Ratha Yatra.  The route is the Grand Avenue and the destination Gundicha temple, where they remain for nine days.  At other times Gundicha temple has no religious activity.  To witness the super spectacle of the Ratha Yatra devotees from all over the world throng Puri.   In 2015 they swelled to clock a swirling figure of 15 lakhs!  The huge chariots pulled by the pilgrims move inch by inch covering a distance of three kilometres in not less than five hours.  This has led to the contribution of a word to the English dictionary – Juggernaut. 

The famous Ratha Yatra of the Jagannath temple, Puri
(Photo courtesy: Odisha Government)

More fascinating is the fact that the chariots are made afresh every year.  Months before the actual date of the procession, hundreds of carpenters, artisans and painters start working on them with their bare hands and conventional tools.  Behold, the chariots become ready on the dot for the procession!

Another great feature is a little-known connection between the Puri abode and the Sun temple at Konark about 45 kilometres away.   The Konark edifice had a 33-foot monolithic pillar with an artistically-carved figure of Aruna, Sun’s charioteer, at the top.  It had stood in front of the porch of the temple.  When the Konark temple was abandoned following its collapse, the pillar was shifted to Puri and installed at the Lion’s gate of the Jagannath temple.  It can be seen even today. 

The Konark Sun temple today

As we went round, our Panda kept explaining several other characteristics of the temple.  He drew our attention to a large wheel, nearly 12 feet in diameter made of an alloy of eight metals, glistening atop the main tower. It is called Neel Chakra (blue wheel).  Besides being religiously significant, it serves as a lightning arrester.  From a mast on top of the wheel a triangular red flag 20 feet long flies with a couple of strings of several smaller yellow and red flags trailing below it.

We were stunned when he said that the large red flag atop the wheel always flutters opposite to the direction of the wind.  We looked at it for a while in great wonder but could not make out whether it was true.  Our poser to him: “If so, has it been scientifically verified?”   His response: “It is a miracle.  It is the manifestation of the divine power of the temple.  Jai Jagannath.”

Interestingly, all the flags are replaced every evening.  The flag-changing ceremony is a great draw with the devotees.  A man emerges from an opening beneath the top dome-like structure of the tower with the large red flag and the smaller ones wrapped around his waist.  With the help of just a chain of iron rings hanging from above, he climbs up fast and takes out the old ones.  Perched on the Neel Chakra he slides the main red flag on to the mast amidst loud chants of Jai Jagannath by devotees watching the ceremony from below.  Two strings of the smaller flags are tied to the spokes of the wheel.  He then descends collecting the old ones.  The entire process takes about 20 minutes. 

The main flag being changed

The flags fluttering after the changing ceremony

This ceremony has been going on uninterruptedly for centuries and the man doing the job is a descendant of the family to which the duty of hoisting the flag was originally assigned by the king, who had built the temple.

Another superlative facet of the temple is its kitchen.  Termed as one of the biggest in the world, it has a capacity to cook for a lakh of devotees daily.   As many as 56 varieties of dishes are prepared every day throughout the year.  The food is cooked only in earthen pots using firewood alone.  After the steam-cooked food is symbolically offered to the deities, the ‘Mahaprasad’ is distributed free to the devotees.  Some dishes, especially dry ones meant to be carried home, are sold in an adjacent area.  

Even in kitchen matters people talk of strange phenomena.  When seven pots are placed one on top of the other and used for cooking, the top-most pot always gets cooked first.  On day-to-day basis, there has never been an instance of any food being left over nor a shortfall.

We came out of the temple with a feeling of contentment, having had a good ‘darshan’ of the deities and having heard a lot about its history and glory.  At the same time, we were wondering about the veracity of the mysterious occurrences cited.  On the whole, it is certainly a fabulous and phenomenal temple to visit. 

Next we headed for the Gundicha temple.  Though no religious activity was going on, without any presiding deities in the sanctum, people were visiting it.  Here and there Pandas had put up some images of the deities to entice the visitors.

There are four big Sarovars (tanks) in Puri.  One is called Narendra Sarovar, built in the 15^th century by a royal dignitary called Narendra Dev.  During the Chandana Yatra (sandalwood festival) of Jagannath lasting three weeks, replicas of the images of the deities are taken round the tank in beautifully decorated and illuminated boats twice daily. 

  

The Narendra Sarovar

Puri beach is another attraction that visitors to the town do not miss.  It serves as a place of entertainment, complete with horse and camel rides and eateries, besides being a good area for swimming.  It is relatively clean.  In the evenings, particularly during week-ends, it bursts with life.  

At the Puri beach at about noon

A site that tourist literature promotes is Chilka lake, where people go for boating and dolphin watching.  It was not much of an interest for us and so we did not go.

Puri is essentially a temple town.  However, its steady transformation into a modern society is opening up vistas of new attractions for tourists.  A visit to this place will be a rewarding and memorable experience.  

Look for my next article.  It will be on Konark.

April 05, 2017.